Chapter One:

MEMORIES OF JAPANESE BEGINNINGS

By Addiena Rox and Red Heads with Chocolate

~Sitting in my rocking chair with the sweet smell of summer drifting through the air, I can't help but remember the way my room caught the same sweetness from the cherry blossom trees outside my window. As I close my eyes, my memories surface to grace the pages of my mind as fresh and vivid as when they had first happened. We were all young then; very young. We had gotten off the plane after our first trip: to Japan. We were there to visit the country, and meet our soon-to-be friends, relatives, rivals, love interests and possible husbands. ~

The air was crisp, my clothes were wrinkled, our legs were collectively cramped (as well as sore), and Ash's grin was highly contagious. Ashley was so excited about all of us being in Japan together. Her pink highlights stuck out like bright Flamingo feathers against her dirty blonde hair.

Poor Flash was getting yanked all over the place as we walked down the stairs to the runway. He looked painfully bored to me, kind of like he didn't want to be there at all. Which when you think about it, was highly understandable.

The land of neon colors and wild parties didn't fit with Flash's dark muscle shirts, deep shaded baggy jeans, and black army boots in the least. The gold chain I gave him last year for his 16th birthday glinted off his tanned neck, which was the only really bright color he could stand to wear. His hazel eyes weren't fully adjusted like they should have.

Ashley, on the other hand, was Flash's complete polar opposite: She was the party girl, ready to do whatever she thought was good whenever she wanted to do it. She was in a constant state of flux, as her highlights would attest to. See, Ashley's highlights changed all the time depending on what season it was, how she was feeling, and what looked good in the magazines.

Sometimes she could be a little scatter-brained, and a lot of times over reacted horribly, but that's what made her so cool to hang out with. When the 3 of us hang out together, she always has something for us to do. If it has anything to do with fun, she's on it.

Ashley always does things for a reason. No matter how small or weird it is, it was done with some sort of purpose in mind. That brings me to her current style. See, most Japanese girls did neon stuff to their hair. Ashley figured she would fit in better if she did something similar to her own. That was the reason for the insane Flamingo feathers… or, at least part of the reason. The other reason was because pink, red, and white were Flash's favorite colors (you know, besides black and blue).

Ash is surprisingly perceptive for being so much of a party girl all the time. She's known for years that there was something going on that we weren't telling her. She thought we were going out, but I could tell she wasn't sure.

Ash always asked about us, mostly confronting me about how close the two of us seemed. I kept telling her there was nothing more between us, which is true enough. But I doubt Ashley believed me. See, only I knew the truth about Jody.

Me, I'm not the most outstanding type of person. The whole reason I even decided to come to Japan was to change my image. I'm kind of plain, but in a highly tom-boyish sort of way. What can I say? I dress for comfort, not looks.

Therefore, a lot of girls were shocked into a rude reality when they hit on the dark skinned moody guy who slouches like any other interesting bad boy and found little old me underneath it all; you know, the classic navy blue baggy jeans, white Air Jordan's, loose fitting black shirt, backwards Lakers baseball cap, and all the messy dark brown hair any guy would be proud to call his own.

After those poor girls recovered, they went and spread rumors about me. I figured I should change my look before anything worse happened. I asked Flash what I should change my look to, but he thought I should stay the way I was because I looked great. Ash said to go girly, or at least girly-guy. Got to say, I was leaning in favor of Flash's idea. But I got a bad feeling about trying it, and I've learned to trust my instincts.

See, I have a hereditary habit of almost always thinking something through without thinking about it at all. I also have the nasty habit of almost always being right. And for some strange reason, 16 year olds running around Japan just screamed trouble when Ash told me about it. I remember when I first started calling her 'Ash'… wait, I'll tell that story later…maybe… or you could just ask Ash.

(Ash's POV)

Typically my hair never stayed the same color long; typically it traded off with the color of Jody's choice that month. I had been researching Japan's who's who for months… and I was sure that Jody and Danni were worried about practical things like food or housing…

That was what made them my best friends: Jody had a classical rocker look with a totally sweet personality, while Danni was more 'the girl next door' with a massively tomboyish side. The three of us shrieked 'American'… and that was before people heard our accents.

As my pink and red hair fluttered in the wind, I rethought my shoe choice, but one look at Danni's flats and Jody's combat boots and I realized my Mary-Jane stilettos had little effect on my sore legs, however leggings would have helped avoid the rug-burn on the backs of my thighs from the seat, but what can I say, fashion matters.

My replica Louis Vuitton suitcase in tow, we got into the limo Ouran Academy sent to pick us up at the airport.

Let me give you personal info on all three of us:

Ashley McArthur (me!)-5'8", dishwater blonde with ever changing stripes of colors (currently they are pink and red). My style: plaid mini shirts, stiletto Mary-Jane's and white blouses… my gender: female.

Jody Callahan is 6'0", fair skinned and tall with hazel eyes, prefers dark colors which contrast with his clearly Californian appearance. Sometimes he would change his style to muscle shirts with combat boots. He's a really nice guy, when you get to know him.

Danni Jones is 5'5" and is dark as chocolate. Her eyes are dark and mysterious with a light that shines out that no one can ever really understand. Some used to associate her gaze as the gaze of the Devil. She's more into disappearing without a trace so she adapts her style to whatever she wants to blend into. She's a cool chick when you get to know her, too.

(Danni's POV)

Together we stood in front of the school. We were on the street, mind you, because we couldn't exactly look at the whole front if we were inside the grounds. Yeah, that's how big the front was.

As if of one stupidly idiotic mind, our mouths dropped one at a time as we each spied a piece of student eye candy walk by. We all knew we had to go inside, but we just couldn't break away from the sights that held us captive. Maybe that's the way middle schoolers' felt when they stood in front of their new high schools for the first time.

"So, are we going in or not?" Flash asked us in a hushed whisper. Even though we weren't precisely sure why he was whispering, we nodded.

"We all have the same classes, and at least one of us knows how to get to them all?" Again, we nodded.

"Everybody speaks fluent Japanese?" He caught us a little off guard with that one, since he had asked us in Japanese.

"What do you think, Flashy?" I asked sarcastically.

"Do you think we can speak Japanese fluently?" Ash mirrored my sarcasm almost flawlessly. And we had both asked him in Japanese. He shrugged like he didn't really care, even though we could see the pride in his eyes.

Ash did start giggling uncontrollably. I swear on my life, it was like a chain reaction: She started, which made me start, which triggered poor Flash into giggling. Fairly shrieking in Japanese, we said, "Your accents! Your accents!" laughing wildly, we pointed at each other until tears fell from our eyes.

Wiping my tears on my sleeve, I finally got a good look at our uniforms. "Uh, maybe we should go and make sure these things fit us right. Otherwise we'll just be embarrassing ourselves in front of all these damn rich people."

Flash looked at me like I was a goddess. See, when the school had sent our uniforms, Ash's uniform and mine were a little tight but we looked alright. Flash's was a little big in a place that he was not, if you catch my drift.

'Absolutely pure madness,' those were the only words that I was thinking as we made our way inside the grounds. I will admit, we did get some strange looks from the lavishly expensive (saying regular would have been offensive) students. It was if they knew why we were there, but it still bothered them. Whatever, we weren't there to care. Or at least I wasn't.

(Ash's POV)

After Jody went down our check list, we shrieked "Your accents! Your accents!" As we laughed our asses off.

Despite what Danni will tell you, the looks we got walking through the halls were, well…They hurt.

A lot.

Anyway… After Danni got lost and eventually found us again, she told us about this great place she'd found…to study.

I wasn't thrilled by the "studying" part of that. But if it was deserted I could sit back and breathe without fear that someone was giving me one of those judging looks.

(Danni's POV)

The day had been hectic, and the three of us just wanted to find a place to study in peace. Things had just gone downhill after we got inside. I won't go into all the details, just ask Ash. If she's not too embarrassed, she'll probably tell you… maybe…

Anyway, I had sort of gone off on a strange expedition, alone, and got a little lost. It freaked out Flash, although Ash assured him I'd be OK. Even though she was right, it still stung that she wasn't slightly concerned when I didn't show up for THREE CLASS PERIODS. I figured out how to get back in one piece by fourth period.

As I led them back through the halls, I told them about a room I found while I was turned around earlier that day. It was an abandoned music room on the second floor. I knew it was abandoned because no one had gone in the whole time I was over there, and I was over there a long while.

"Here we are: Music room three. Told you it was empty! Now can we go in and study, please?" I glared at Ash over my shoulder as I opened the door. Rose petals swarmed and spiraled in a dazzling display of blood red and deep pink hues.

(Ash's POV)

The door flew open and rose petals flew into our faces; and before us stood the 7 Gods of Ouran. (If Ouran ever became a religion, I'd gladly convert…) Much to my dismay, half of them had shirts on…

"Welcome to the Ouran Host Club…" chorused around the room. I found myself staring right at a pair of red headed twins (more of a nutmeg, where my hair was fuchsia) and they were whispering amongst themselves…but they were closer to Danni, so she probably heard what they said better.

"Any of these guys show up in your research?" Jody asked in English.

"Yes," I replied. "As a matter of fact, 6 out of 7 of them."

"Damn," he said in English, and I laughed.

(Danni's POV)

"Welcome, to the Ouran Host Club!" Seven boys spoke simultaneously and in absolutely perfect unison.

"Whoa- what the- a Host Club…!" my voice caused the boys to change from soft sideways glancing to intense head-on scrutiny.

"One of them doesn't look very hetero, does he, Kaoru?"

"Mum, that's right, Hikaru; not very hetero at all," The two who spoke looked exactly the same. I knew from experience rather than conscious effort that I was trying to separate their voices and tell them apart while I also deduced that these two were trouble with red hair and gold eyes.

It was at this time that we actually got a good look at them all. They all were hot by nature, but they were dressed as male models. Some wore shirts (to Ash's disappointment) but the rest were shirtless (to Flash's dismay).

"Can you speak Japanese?" A raven haired youth with an exceptionally slender waist asked. His English was flawless, almost as if he had lived in America before we even met him. The guy could stand work on disguising his emotions a little more. Yeah, I caught the obvious sarcasm in his voice.

Smiling, I answered him in Japanese. I'm not proud of what I said, so I won't tell you what I said… if you want to know, just ask Ash.

His face went blank as he absorbed my harsh words. Putting on a smile, he said, "So, where are you going to be staying while you're here in Japan? I'm sure we, as the members of the Host Club, would love to-" the boy was cut off by a blonde god with purple-aqua eyes. Seriously, he just slid in front of him like he was on skates or something.

"Welcome to the Ouran Host Club! I'm Tamaki, the King of the Host Club! It's a pleasure to meet you, my dears. And young sir, as it would seem," at this, Tamaki winked a sparkling eye at Flash.

Ask Ash if you want to know his reaction, she was staring at him like he was ALL that and a bag a chips. Which, he was. I wasn't really paying attention to those two; I was way more busy looking at the other members of the Host Club. Tamaki followed my gaze as it went around the room. I guess he figured it would be better to introduce everyone before I started asking.

"Though it may sound strange, we'll also tell you our particular contribution to the Club. For instance, I am of the Princely type. Since you guys are supposed to be new recruits and all, you need to know what's here so you can figure out what you can contribute.

"Allow me to introduce my fellow Hosts! This," he said, sliding behind the extremely rude dark haired boy, "is my good friend, Kyoya. His family own most of Japans outward shows of charity, you know." I noticed he wore wire-rimmed glasses that made him look pretty good.

'Probably for show,' I thought. I also noticed the way those same glasses had glinted when Tamaki had winked at Flash. 'Interesting,' I smiled slyly at the idea that formed in my mind.

Catching my grin, Kyoya frowned. "I'm of the Cool type, which you'll learn to understand. I guarantee that…" Kyoya looked a little spooky right at that moment.

"These are my fashion experts, Hikaru," one redhead raised his hand above his head. "And this is his brother Kaoru. They're twins, but you can probably tell that already, right?" the other redheaded twin leaned close and smiled evilly at Flash. Ash grabbed the younger one and started gabbing about something or other.

"We happen to be of the Devil type. A lot of girls like the bad boys, and we play off a few other talents of ours. You'll learn about those soon enough," that was the voice of the older twin, I could tell because his voice was deeper than the other ones'.

'Gotcha,' I thought with a smile. 'Now I can tell you two apart!'

"This is our resident Martial Arts expert, Haninozuka. Everyone just calls him Honey," a cute little blonde boy who couldn't possibly be a high school kid jumped forward and smiled sweetly.

"That's a cute bunny, what's his name?" I asked with sincere interest.

"This is my bunny Usa-chan! He stays with me all the time," man, he sounds just like a little kid! "I'm one of the many Boy-Lolita types, as you can probably tell!" Whoa, they weren't kidding about that.

"That one behind you is Morinozuka, but we call him Mori for short. He's a master of the sword, and is Honeys' cousin. He's-"

"I'm of The Strong, Silent type. Don't be fooled, Honeys' almost 18," I turned to see the most handsome of them all. I liked the way his dark hair stayed short but still swayed in the breeze. (I'd seen him around campus, and thought about him nonstop ever since, if you were wondering.)

Tilting my head, I smiled and said quietly, "You're also one of those silent disappearing types, aren't you?" I watched with a satisfaction at his widening eyes.

"How did you…" he turned and looked at something, but when he turned back I was gone. Whipping around, he saw me leaning on the couch. Tamaki practically had a fit; he was the only one who had seen me move. I think I looked more like a blur than anything else to him.

"I'm just like you Mori. Just like you and not like you at all. I've just had a little less practice then you have," I smiled sweetly. Inside I was laughing at the faces of my friends. See, I also have the uncanny ability to move in and out of places without anyone really noticing. I can even get into locked rooms and other places. I guess you can say I'm… complicated.

"Hey, where's Haruhi?" Tamaki said worriedly.

"I'm down here, you guys," the voice was rather soft, and belonged to a boy of medium height with dark mousy brown hair. He was currently lying in the floor with his hands propped like he was watching TV.

"HARUHI! What are you doing on the floor? It's dirty down there!" he looked like a worried father… or a concerned boyfriend. Kyoya's glasses glinted dangerously.

Standing up, Haruhi glared at the twins. "Hi, I'm Haruhi! Guess I'd be considered the natural type. Sorry I didn't speak up sooner, but those two knocked me over trying to get to your friend over there," I got a strange feeling from this guy, like he wasn't really a guy at all.

'Got to talk to Flash later,' I noted to myself. I noticed Mori watching me with an intensity that almost mirrored my own when I memorized him earlier that day outside.

"So, now that you know who we are, who are you three?" Kyoya was poised, ready to write in his notebook whatever we said. It was black, and reminded me of stories of the names of the dead being written in a book of darkness.

'Creepy,' I thought as I turned to the King of the Host Club.

Bowing low, I stated, "I am Danielle Jones, though many call me Danni. I'm the Flux type, I suppose."

"Flux?" Hikaru asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I'm always changing something about myself. I'm hardly ever the same person every time you see me. I'm always in flux," my friends looked at me with complete understanding.

"Alright, Danni. Next we have…?" Tamaki looked at Ash.

"Oh, me? I'm Ashley McArthur, but you can call me Ash. I'm the Party type?" she shrugged as she spoke. I noticed Kaoru hadn't taken his eyes off her since she pulled him off to the side earlier.

"I'm Flash Callahan, and I guess I'd be considered the Sensitive type. My real name is Jody Callahan, but Danni changed it," Flash stood uncomfortably between the twins. They were looking him up and down. I knew that look, so I knew I'd probably have to bust heads after a few minutes.

"Now that we all know each other, where are you three going to stay? You can room with any of us… you know I'd love to have you…" he whispered that last part suggestively into Ash's ear. She almost turned into a puddle right then and there.

I watched Kyoya stiffen and turn around. Tamaki saw it, too. He straightened up and went to talk to Kyoya. I'm not sure what was said, because I got some sort of signal interference from Flash. I looked into his frightened eyes, and knew the time had come to assert my dominance over the pack.

Before anyone knew what was happening, I was pushing Hikaru into one of the supporting pillars. My nails were long and sharp by habit, so they were making known by hovering a few inches in front of Hikaru's face.

"Don't ever threaten my friends, no matter how strange they may act. Or you'll have to go through ME. Got that?" I glared at him from behind my dark hair. It had fallen from its bun when I had moved. It now hung loosely over my face, giving it a dark shadow that mocked the evil lurking inside of him.

He glared back at me; his eyes glittered like diamonds. Or like cats' eyes, since they were golden like one. Sensing a challenge, I bared my teeth and snickered. Tension levels in that room went up almost six fold in about ten seconds. I felt his muscles tingle while I dug my nails deeper into his shirt.

Faster than the eye could follow, I jumped away and snarled. There was a small cut on my cheek where Hikaru had sliced me doing a swift uppercut. He hissed loudly, and jumped after me. Somehow, I managed to avoid every single one of his attacks. I was avoiding contact, since I was in a dress. He used his pants as an advantage over me, but I was still way faster than he could ever hope to be.

Strangely, there was a banana peel right where I had to jump. I landed square on it… and I went down faster than a fat woman on a greased fire pole.

"Ha! Now you'll pay!" Hikaru thought he had me, but boy was he wrong. I whipped and caught him as he fell on top of me. Twisting and fighting, we ended up in a little used corner of the room. Behind all things, we ended up behind an elephant statue that hadn't been there when we came in.

"Wait a minute; I thought this was supposed to be a Music room!" my words were a little strangled, as I had Hikaru's full weight on me. "Get off me, you oversized ox!" I snapped. Leaning back, he looked me in the eyes. I saw a burning anger behind his, which made his eyes look like glowing pots of gold.

"I'm trying! Your dress is really slippery, ya know!" as if to prove his point, my dress betrayed me and let him slip. It was at that moment that everyone crowded around to help us up.

In short, this is what they saw: Me on my back propped up on my elbows, with Hikaru leaning over me from between my legs, crushing and rolling up my dress underneath his weight. (Thank God I've got great legs!) But that would have been alright, if we hadn't been kissing.

I swear to the heavens that it was a one in a million chance that right as he slipped and I leaned forwards to get up that our lips would connect! We looked right into each other's eyes, and he looked so red (embarrassed) it wasn't even funny.

We were in so much shock and embarrassment that neither of us could move. When he pulled away, I felt the heat waves coming from him. I knew he could feel mine.

Even though things were a little awkward at first, everyone accepted us into the Host Club. Everyone, that is, except Hikaru. I don't think he ever really forgave me for that experience. I think he still has wet dreams about that incident.

~ Normally, I'd tell you to ask Ash. But I don't think she'd tell you anything different then what I just told you. You can still ask her, though. I think she'll laugh at the memory.

Seriously, I think she will! ~